UNCSA RESPONDS TO ELEVATED LEVELS OF LEAD DISCOVERED AT LEASED WAREHOUSE

Public health officials agree risk is minimal, but free testing is
offered for those potentially affected

WINSTON-SALEM –
Officials at the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) are
working with local, state and federal
agencies to respond to the discovery of
elevated levels of lead in and around a
warehouse that the university leases to
store theatrical and film props and
equipment.

Although state and local health
officials agree the health risk is
minimal for those who accessed the
facility or came into contact with items
stored there, free testing is available
for those who have been impacted.

“It
is unlikely that any adult would
experience health issues as a result of
this level of exposure,” said Marlon B.
Hunter, director of Forsyth County
Public Health Department. “We do
recommend testing to alleviate concerns
and reassure everyone involved,” he
said.

UNCSA identified more than 300 students
– including some who have graduated –
and employees who accessed the warehouse
since February 2013, ranging from a few
hours per week during a 15-week semester
to around 25 hours per week for a few
employees. All have been notified of the
potential contamination and its low
health risk. The university is offering
free blood level testing in Student
Health Services through August.

The University was officially notified
on July 21 that the warehouse at 500
Battery Drive has elevated levels of
lead in dust on the floor and on some of
the building’s contents. The lead dust
was discovered when county officials
conducting a routine safety inspection
of a nearby abandoned battery factory
found evidence of lead contamination.

Both the factory and the warehouse were
built by Douglas Battery Manufacturing
Co., which ceased manufacturing
operations in 2010 and filed for
bankruptcy in 2012. UNCSA began leasing
part of the warehouse from Lexington
Road Properties, owners of Douglas
Battery, in January 2013. The property
is now owned by Pearl Pacific LLC. The
University’s lease expires in December.

According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the lead dust
was likely tracked in from the parking
areas, where buried battery casings are
washing up from the soil, or were
carried in through the heating system.

Chris Boyd, UNCSA’s vice chancellor for
facilities management, said the school’s
top priority is ensuring the health and
well-being of its students, alumni and
employees, and anyone else who might
have been impacted. “We want everyone
who has even the slightest concern to
get a blood test, so they can lay that
concern to rest,” he said.

Staff and faculty from the schools of
Filmmaking and Design & Production are
working with Boyd to determine what
contents of the building can be cleaned
and what will need to be replaced. He
said that will be done quickly to
minimize the effect on the arts training
programs.

As America’s first state-supported arts
school, the University of North Carolina
School of the Arts is a unique
stand-alone public university of arts
conservatories. With a high school
component, UNCSA is a degree-granting
institution that trains young people of
talent in music, dance, drama,
filmmaking, and design and production.
Established by the N.C. General Assembly
in 1963, the School of the Arts opened
in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and
Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of
the University of North Carolina system
in 1972. For more information, visit
www.uncsa.edu.